Aftermath
by Lily975
Summary: The three girls are more than just teammates and fighting partners. They're best friends. They're sisters. And they have each other's backs, no matter what.
1. Blossom

**Ok, I got no clue really why I'm writing this, but eh, hope you like it!**

Small, dimming rays of sunlight shone down in the Utonium backyard.

"Ugh, stupid monkey, stupid robots, stupid laser guns, stupid crossbows, stupid army..." A black haired girl muttered as she lay on the soft green grass in the evening light.

"You said it." A blonde lay on her back next to the black haired girl.

"I still can't believe Mojo was able to make _that_ many robots. It's not physically possible! He broke out of jail, what, two days ago?" A girl with long auburn hair sat cross-legged on the lawn, facing the other two. "And we barely defeated him...heck, we almost didn't escape with our lives!"

"Blossom, it _is_ Mojo we're talking about. That crazy green ape has done weirder things before. And besides, who cares how we did it? We beat the army, sent Mojo to jail, and returned home alive. That's all we can really hope for, right?" The blonde piped up.

"Bubbles, how do you stay that cheerful? You're the one who got the crossbow bolt in your leg!" The brunette looked at Bubbles concernedly.

"And it hurts and everything, Buttercup, but you guys are mostly ok, and it's not like I'm going to drop dead any second. We're alive. Look on the bright side!" Bubbles threw her hands up exasperatedly.

Buttercup chuckled. "Bubs..." She wrapped her arms around the girl. "Never change."

The blonde's eyes watered slightly at the uncommon sight of affection. "Aww, Butters..." The two sisters embraced gently, Buttercup being careful not to jostle the Blue Puff's leg.

Blossom looked at the two, her eyes gleaming and a soft smile on her face. Thank the Lord that they were alright...Blossom didn't know what she'd do if they had died.

Her eyes turned to the cast on Bubbles' leg, stained a deep red with splotches of blood. On the cast were the signatures from her, Buttercup, the Professor (who drew a bunny rabbit just for her), Ms. Keane, and dozens of random citizens who wanted to show support for the blonde superhero. It was quite heartwarming to see a sight like that.

The wound itself wasn't incredibly bad, but the Professor warned her that it would hurt like hell for the next week or too.

She mentally cursed herself. Bubbles was injured because of her. At the sight of the army, she froze up. It was only thanks to Bubbles' speed and agility that she was pushed out of the way of a crossbow bolt, one that would've hit her right in the heart. Bubbles took the bolt in the leg. She was fast, faster than the other two sisters, but not fast enough.

And Buttercup didn't look much better. Blossom's mind just blanked, and she had to rely on Buttercup to tell her and Bubbles what to do and what formations to take. And in the process, Buttercup, being the fearless fighter, sustained an incredible amount scratches, scrapes, and bruises, including a long laser burn on her right arm.

She squeezed her rose eyes shut. What kind of leader was she, if she just froze up when her team needed her the most? And now they were hurt _because of her._ The very person who swore to protect them.

Bubbles broke free of Buttercup's embrace and nudged the Green Puff towards their leader. Buttercup turned towards the Pink Puff and her eyes softened.

"Bloss...you aren't still beating yourself up over the fight, are you?" Figures Bubbles hit the topic spot-on.

"What kind of leader am I? _I'm_ supposed to be the protector, the leader, the one who keeps us out of danger. But instead, _I_ put you guys into danger. I froze up. It's _all my fault_ you guys are injured!" Words poured out of Blossom as she let out all her self-fury, her bitterness, her weakness to two of the three people on the planet that truly understood her.

Bubbles crawled over to Blossom's side, her leg dragging painfully behind her but Bubbles paid it no mind. She pulled herself upright next to the Pink Puff and gently wrapped her arms around the girl.

"Blossom...you know we don't blame you for any of this. Freezing up is natural, even _BC_ did!" An indignant shout came from the brunette. "Yes you did, Buttercup! Anyways, it doesn't matter to me that I'm injured. And if I had the chance to do it over, I wouldn't change a thing. Don't beat yourself up over something I chose to do Blossie." She smiled up at Blossom, the smile itself laced with warmth that almost seemed to radiate off her, making her feel...

Loved.

"And me and BC both know you're a great leader, a great teammate, and a great sister." From a few feet away, Buttercup nodded confidently in agreement.

And with that one heartfelt line, Blossom's dam broke and she sobbed into her sister's shoulder, letting out all her pain. Tears steamed down Blossom's face and she buried her head into the fabric of Bubbles' jacket. The Blue Puff stroked her back rhythmically, cooing things absentmindedly like "Shhh...it's ok Blossom..." "Don't cry, it's alright now...".

Buttercup groaned. "Ugh, one fight and we're all getting sappy." Nonetheless, she walked over to the duo and wrapped her arms around both of them, as Bubbles moved to give Buttercup some space to sit down.

"Oh man...two hugs in one day. Might as well kill me now, before I start braiding friendship bracelets and painting my toenails." Buttercup joked.

Blossom laughed through her tears while Bubbles smacked Buttercup gently. "Butters! Were having a moment. Don't ruin it!"

Buttercup shrugged.

And the three sisters just sat there, embracing tightly, as the last rays of light faded from view, and the moon shone softly by the horizon.

**Wow. No idea where THAT came from, except for the fact that I wanted to do a total rewrite of "Sisters" so I guess this is it. And I love PPG and sisterhood. Umm...yeah. I got nothing. Review? Pretty please?**


	2. Bubbles

**Hi. Soo...yeah. I was finishing writing the first part of Aftermath, and I thought "Hey, why not turn this into a short multi-chap short with each chapter featuring one of the girls?" So...um, yeah. I don't really have anything else to say but I hope you like this!**

Blue eyes scanned the dark, almost empty room. The entire area was encased in shadow, the windows drawn, and nothing but guilt-wracked tears filling the silent atmosphere.

A small figure lay on the large bed, shaking with sobs. Blonde hair, out of their signature pigtails, was now was draped lifelessly against a pillow. The girl's normally pristine, crisp uniform was now torn, dark with blood stains, and singed along the edges, and lay forgotten on the dresser, the girls forgoing her usual outfit for a simple pair of blue flannel pajamas.

Her notepad and colored pencils, which she normally turned to during hard times like these, instead sitting on the bedside table, forgotten and collecting dust.

The young superhero, who was normally a bright, cheerful ball of energy, was simply drowning in sorrow.

Bubbles Utonium hugged her shaking body. "Why...why do I-I have to be so w-w-weak? Why...can't I be t-tough and strong like...like B-Buttercup and Blossom?" She cried in anguish. She took a deep breath.

"It's all m-my fault. I was t-too kindhearted, too soft to destroy the monster, and it took advantage of that and almost killed me and my sisters! If it wasn't for Blossom's quick thinking and Buttercup's strength..." She hung her head. "Maybe...maybe I'm just not cut out to be a Powerpuff Girl. I'm no fighter, I'm barely even brave enough to stand my ground!" She broke back into heartbreaking sobs.

The door creaked open, revealing a sliver of light as two pairs of eyes, one a vibrant green, the other a rosy pink, peeked in. "Bubbles? Bubbles, can we come in?"

The blonde had neither the will nor the energy to respond to their pleas, so the two sisters took her silence as acceptance, and slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside.

* * *

Blossom and Buttercup stood awkwardly in the doorway, the light from the hallway illuminating their silhouettes. Normally it was Bubbles who comforted them, not the other way around!

Blossom finally decided to be there for her sister, even if she wasn't very good with comforting. She made her way through the room and plopped down next to Bubbles.

She tilted her head towards her 'little sister' questioningly, her eyes filled with sympathy. "Bubbles, sweetie, what's wrong?

The teary-eyed girl faced Blossom solemnly. "Why haven't you kicked me out of the team yet?"

Silence resonated.

The two girls stared at the blonde unbelievingly. Buttercup's jaw dropped.

Blossom's eyes widened in shock and she wrapped her arms around the other girl. "_Bubbles_...Bubbles, what on Earth would make you think that?"

Bubbles shook her head sadly. "Don't you get it? I'm a no good fighter. I'm too weak-hearted, too cowardly, too easily frightened to be a superhero. I'm...I'm just not good enough to be a superhero."

She nodded towards Buttercup's direction. "Even Buttercup admitted it. I heard you guys talking about a month ago...You said you thought I wasn't cut out to be a superhero, that I was too sweet to be a fighter. And you were right."

Buttercup put a hand over her mouth, her eyes filled with shame and regret. She sat down on the other side of the bed and took Bubbles' hands in her own. "Bubs...oh Bubbles, I...I really _never_...I...I didn't mean..." She put her head in her hands. "Bubbles...I'm so sorry!"

Bubbles shook her head. "No, you were just pointing out a known fact. It's true. I can't be a superhero..."

Blossom shook her head furiously. "Bubbles, what are you saying? You're essential to this team! You're the kind one, the glue that keeps us together, and the fastest one on the entire team. You're tough when you need to be, but through everything you're still so kind and compassionate. Plus, you've saved me and Butters more times than we can count!" She hugged the girl tightly. "And even if you were totally useless, which you aren't, you our _sister_. You're _family_. And we help each other in times of need."

Bubbles squeezed her eyes shut. "But...what if I _am_ truly useless?"

Buttercup spoke up. "Listen. Who saved me and Blossom when we were fighting Mojo the first time?"

"...Me..." Bubbles spoke timidly.

"And who managed to take out Mojo _all by herself_?"

"Me..."

"And who kicked me and Blossom's asses when you were under a spell or something?"

"M- wait, that was me?!"

"Err...forget I said anything!" Buttercup internally smacked herself for that one. "But who managed to beat Danger Level 15 on the Professor's simulator _SINGLE-HANDEDLY_?"

"Me..."

"And last but not least, who was able to beat _E-Mail_, the supposedly _fastest superhero on the planet_, at his own game in a race around the world?"

"Me..."

Buttercup clapped a hand on Bubbles' shoulder. "So you see? You're not useless, as a matter of fact, you're _anything_ but useless." Buttercup smiled, a rare smile that was never shown to anyone but family members, and very different from her usual cocky smirk.

Bubbles blushed and looked up at her two self-appointed 'big sisters'. "..Butters, Bloss..._thank you._"

Buttercup and Blossom simply hugged her tighter.

The door opened again. "Girls, time for dinn- Oh. Well, I'll leave you three for now." And with a beaming smile on his face, the Professor made his way back down the hallway, a sudden spring in his step. _Wait until Ms. Keane hears about this one..._

**And done! I'm actually pretty pleased at how this turned out :3 but since this is an A/N, I just wanna take a minute to explain the plot behind this story. **

**The basis of this chapter (and this entire fic, really) was to show each Puff's insecurities and weaknesses, and show that they may have their flaws, but they always have each other to lean on. Blossom, being the leader, is afraid of failing as a leader and making a mistake that could cost her sisters their lives. Bubbles, on the other hand, feels she is too weak to be helpful. Next up - Buttercup's! **

**Review! C'mon, just push the little button down there!**


	3. Buttercup

**Ok, now for the promised Buttercup POV! :) One thing I added- I made Buttercup a little Inner-Voice, kinda like Sakura's Inner, so...er, yeah. I'm weird that way. So. Thanks for reading!**

THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP

"Gah! Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

The raven haired heroine pounded methodically on her bright green punching bag.

THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP

"Why...why me? Why all of us!? What did we do to deserve this!?"

THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP

"Stupid lady, stupid kids, stupid monster, stupid - ARGH! It's _just not damn fair_!"

Yup. The invincible Buttercup Utonium, strong, brave and fearless, was upset.

_Very_ upset.

THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP

"Those stupid townspeople..._we_ save _their_ asses, and _they_ repay us by yelling in our faces?"

* * *

_"Alright girls, let's get em!" Blossom ordered._

_With an affirmative nod from Bubbles and herself, the three superheroes swooped into action, their signature trails of blue, pink and green following._

_Buttercup almost laughed with joy. In a weird, odd, kinda creepy way, she missed the monsters they would fight. Nowadays, it was mostly stupid newbie criminals. _

_The monster today? Meh, just a giant squid._

_...Wait, what?_

_Since when do squid walk on land?_

_Meh, well, whatever the reason, when you come to Townsville looking for trouble, you're welcomed with a butt-kicking. That much EVERYONE in the villain business knew._

_Her eyes blazing, the self-proclaimed Toughest Fighter flew in with a fierce uppercut on the squid's...err, not jaw...whatever the squid version is._

_Bubbles immediately followed, zooming past Buttercup with her beyond-supersonic speed and zapping one of the squid's tentacles, while Blossom froze another with her ice breath._

_Buttercup grinned. It had been a while since something this large threatened Townsville...this is gonna be fun._

_"Bloss, Bubbs, let me finish him? Please?" Buttercup pleaded with her sisters. _

_Bubbles shrugged nonchalantly. "Ok, go ahead. This gives me more time to draw..." She whipped out her drawing lad and started doodling._

_Blossom sighed fondly. "Always the fighter, huh, Butters?" She shook her head. "Alright. But not too much destruction, ok?"_

_Buttercup gave her an evil smirk. "Remember, it's me we're talking about. No guarantees." _

_Buttercup then turned to methodically kick its ass in 17 seconds flat._

_WHACK! KAPOW! BANG! BANG! BANG! SCREEEEEEEECH!_

_KERRR-SPLAT!_

_She dusted off her hands smugly. "Easy as pie."_

_BOOOOOOOM!_

_The monster guts proceeded to coat everything in a five mile radius in a disgusting layer of slime._

_"Ahhhh! My painting! And I was almost done, too!" Bubbles screeched in horror, holding up her ruined picture accusingly. "Look at what you did!" __Blossom send a stern look to Buttercup. _

_Said girl was sheepishly grinning. __She wiped off some of the monster goo from her face. "Umm...sorry?"_

_Her leader rolled her eyes. "Whatever, let's just get goi-"_

_"W-w-what...what did you do!?" _

_Buttercup turned her apple green eyes towards a sobbing form on the ground, surrounded by slime-covered children, all of which were bawling their eyes out._

_"You...you've traumatized my students! We come to Townsville for recreational purposes, and all we get is a giant monster trying to eat us!"_

_Buttercup blinked in shock. No one was ever this cruel to them since..._

That_ day._

_The day they were created. The day Mojo tricked them. And the day Townsville turned against them._

_The woman continued furiously, unaware of Buttercup's inner turmoil, "And then YOU come along and KILL it. KILL IT! You've scarred my children for life! You're a killer, you...you...you monster!"_

* * *

That woman...she was right. She WAS a monster.

She felt a traitorous tear trickle down her cheek. No, Buttercup didn't cry. Nope. Never.

Then...what was she doing now?

Sweating through her eyes. Yup, that was it.

**You know, you really shouldn't lie to yourself. I AM part of you after all...I know your thoughts. And seriously? That excuse - SOOOOOOOO lame.**

Greaaaat. Nw she was hearing voices in her head.

**Pfft. So? It's not like you haven't done weirder things before. I mean seriously! Who can say they've defeated a bright green monkey trying to turn the world into dogs?**

...Touché.

**See? I'm right! **

You have no idea how creepy this is.

**So, I can tell you're upset about that stupid, ignorant, evil, monstrous, heartless-**

Bingo. Except the monster here isn't her. It's me.

**Why the hell do you think that?!**

She's right. I AM a monster. I kill for a living. I've taken lives. I've ruined plenty too.

**So? Those are _monsters_! There's no place in the world for those things! You're _helping_ people by getting rid of them! **

But that doesn't make it right! And I've taken human lives too!

**Oh yeah? Name one.**

The RowdyRuffs.

**...Oh. But...that doesn't count! They were resurrected!**

So technically, I killed Butch twice. I took _2_ human lives! Ugh! That's even worse!

**NOT what I meant.**

Look, there's no point denying it. I'm a _killer_. A _murderer_. Just as bad as the villains we spend our lives _fighting_. I'm a _murderer_!

Her cheeks were now stained with tear tracks as she slammed a fist into the punching bag.

**Buttercup... There's really no way to change your mind huh? Well, all I can suggest is talk to your sisters. Actually, they're coming up to talk with you right now.**

Sure enough, Buttercup heard faint footsteps coming down the stairs, heading towards the gym/training room.

Wait, how did YOU know that!?

**...I have my ways. Anyways, I'm outta here. Feel better soon!**

Buttercup actually was saddened by the fact that the voice was leaving.

...She wondered if she should be worried about the fact that she just said that.

She laid a fist down on the punching bag and buried her head in her elbow. What should she say?

She loved her sisters too much to lie.

She cared about her pride too much to tell the truth.

What _should_ she do?

"Buttercup? You in here?" A soft voice echoed through the silent training room.

Blossom.

"Butters, are you ok?"

Bubbles.

The two people she could rely on the most.

Mary-Janes clinking softly across the hard floor, the Blue and Pink Puffs beheld the sight in front of them.

Buttercup.

Crying.

_Buttercup_.

This was wrong on so many levels.

Buttercup never cried. Not out of pain, nor out of fear, nor out of sadness. It just didn't happen.

So even the empathetic Blue Puff had absolutely no idea how to comfort her.

Bubbles started simple. "Butters? What's wrong? You're...you're _crying_."

Buttercup tried wiping her face with her sleeve, but it was no use.

"Oh...Butters..." The gentle Blue Puff wrapped her 'elder sister' in a warm hug. "Shhhh...it's ok Butters..."

Buttercup felt her heart melt a little as she clung to her sister. At the moment, she needed some human presence (NOT a random voice in her head) to comfort her.

Not that she'd ever admit it.

Blossom joined in and wrapped her arms around the two. "Buttercup...I don't know what's bothering you, but just know we're always here for you." She smiled warmly.

Bubbles nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, we're here for ya, thick and thin!" She chirped.

And without any questions asked, the three Puffs simply sat in total, comfortable silence.

**Aaaaand done! Wow! Er...no idea really why I wrote this one, but I love Puff sisterhood so...yeah. Review? Pretty please with a cherry on top?**


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